W
MONUMENTS,
WILKES | Summer 2009
AND
MUSEUMS
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MORE
WILKES ALUMNUS PROMOTES
POSITIVE IMAGE OF WASHINGTON,
D.C., TO WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE
By Helen Kaiser
HEN MORE THAN
1.8 million people
from all walks of life
flocked to Washington,
D.C., for President Barack
Obama’s inauguration in
January, it was a spectacle unsurpassed in our
nation’s history.
Playing a supporting role in the event was
Bill Hanbury ’72, president and CEO of
Destination DC, the nonprofit organization
charged with promoting the city as a premier
global destination.
“Destination DC played just one part in a
complex plan involving many teams and over a
year of planning,” Hanbury explains. “Our role
involved communications, visitor services and
coordinating information about the event—
and about Washington, D.C., itself.”
The events associated with the inauguration
of the nation’s first African American president
mesmerized audiences across the globe, but
Hanbury himself wasn’t able to watch the
inauguration ceremony. “I was doing media
outreach throughout the day at the White
House and on the National Mall. There was a
huge amount of interest from around the
world in what was happening with this new
president and our democracy.”
Head of Destination DC for the past eight
years, Hanbury says he wasn’t really
apprehensive about millions of
people converging on “his” city.
“We were very well prepared, and
William A. Hanbury, Washington, D.C.
B.A., History 1972
(The
inauguration) was an
OUTSTANDING
success that played to
a huge GLOBAL
AUDIENCE
Vacationing this summer?
Within a day’s drive for more than 25 percent of the
nation’s population, D.C. is a doable destination.
Visit www.washington.org for more information.
Master’s Degree in Public Administration, John F.
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University, 1989
Career: Spent much of his life promoting cities such
as Syracuse, Buffalo and Milwaukee before becoming
president and CEO of Destination DC.
Notable: Helped the nation’s capital host millions of
visitors for the historic inauguration of President
Barack Obama.
Favorite Wilkes Memory: Being associated with an
extraordinary group of athletes and men (the Golden
Horde) who won 32 football games in a row.
leadership of the city’s marketing efforts and created partnerships
that had not happened before; and then it was full-steam ahead.”
With 55 full-time and an additional 175 part-time employees,
Destination DC has a $15 million annual budget to market the
district as a premier special events destination. In 2007, about
16.2 million visitors stayed overnight, spending $5.5 billion and
generating $954 million in federal and municipal tax revenues.
Looking back, Hanbury says he obtained a great education
from professors at his alma mater — and from his mentor, football
coach Rollie Schmidt. Hanbury was a member of the Golden
Horde, the collective Wilkes football teams that were undefeated
from 1965-69.
“There was a lot of inspiration to do your best and to be the
best. I still carry that with me today,” he says.
Hanbury played offensive guard for the Colonels and after
graduation played a few exhibition seasons for the pros — the
Buffalo Bills and the World Football League’s Memphis
Southmen. He then taught history and coached high school
football in his native Syracuse, N.Y.
His career path forked when he accepted a job with the
Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. This led to other positions with
tourism offices in Hilton Head, S.C.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Flint, Mich.;
and Milwaukee, Wis. Hanbury will leave Destination DC to
become president and CEO of the United Way of the Capital
Area effective July 1.
It’s fun being at “the epicenter of communities,” he says. “You
have a chance to really make an impact on an area’s economic
development.”
Bill Hanbury’s don’t-miss recommendation: the National
Mall and Memorial Parks with the hallowed World War II
Memorial and other sights meaningful to Americans and
citizens around the world. “You’ve got to come here to
touch it, see it, and feel the inspiration.”
Opposite page: Hanbury oversees a budget of $15 million annually to
promote D.C. as a premier special events destination.
WILKES | Summer 2009
I was confident we had the experience, expertise and planning
savvy to pull it off.”
The pomp and pageantry over the four-day period was not
without its glitches. For instance, some ticket holders complained
that crowd management logistics were confusing and the sheer
number of people involved prevented them from getting to their
designated locations to view the ceremony.
“There were some unhappy people, but, by most people’s
estimation, it was an outstanding success that played to a huge
global audience,” Hanbury says, characterizing it as perhaps the
most watched event in history.
He says Washington has
been able to capitalize on a
unique moment in time.
Worldwide, people are looking
to a charismatic new president
for solutions; and this heightens interest in Washington,
D.C., itself. The timing is
perfect, because the city has
experienced a renaissance over
the past 10 to 15 years.
The nation’s capital has
always been known for the
memorials, monuments and
museums seen as backdrops
on newscasts, the tourism
executive says. Now, however, there is more.
“We have re-created downtown, and there is a gentrification
due to people moving back into the district. It’s a hip, trendy,
cosmopolitan city now — on a global par with London,
Rome, Berlin, Paris and Tokyo,” he asserts.
Richard Spigler, president of the Carlyle Suites and Savoy
Suites hotels, serves as chairman of the 96-member Hotel
Association of Washington, D.C., and on the board of
Destination DC. He says many in the local tourism
industry had long-time dreams of the city becoming
a world-class destination, and Hanbury was
instrumental in making it happen.
“He believed in it from the first day he
came here,” Spigler says. Just after the
9/11 tragedy, Hanbury “seized
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